Russian military leader admits war has failed on live TV as Putin's grip on army unravels

A Russian military commander Igor Girkin, also known by his military alias Igor Strelkov, has admitted that Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine has backfired. In an astonishing set of remarks on Russian television, the army veteran and former FSB officer confirmed that Ukraine has been successful in launching a fightback against Russia. Mr Girkin played a key role in the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and later led the separatist armed forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.

He admitted that Ukraine’s surprisingly successful fightback will never feature in the Kremlin’s own reports of the war. 

Mr Girkin told OSN TV: “29 days of ‘special military operation’ have passed.

“Nowhere, in any direction, has strategic success been achieved, but only operational successes.

“Moreover, the enemy is relatively successful in mobilising and beginning to counterattack.

“This, of course, Konashenkov never mentions in his reports.”

Major General Igor Konashenkov is the chief spokesman for Russia’s Ministry of Defence and deliveries regular televised updates of the progress of Russia’s invasion.

JUST IN: Xi loses patience with Putin as China pulls plug on £380m deal

The former Russia spy agent added: “Unfortunately, I can state that my most pessimistic predictions that we will be drawn into a bloody, push and pull, long, exhausting and extremely dangerous war for the Russian Federation, have been fully justified at the moment.”

Giorgi Revishvili, a defence expert at King’s College London, tweeted: “Infamous Igor Girkin (Strelkov) admitted that Russia failed to achieve any strategic goal in Ukraine, only has couple of operational success.

“He also noted that the Ukrainian forces effectively mobilised resources, timely regrouped and started counter-attacks.”

Last week, Mr Girkin’s adviser, Igor Druz, warned that President Putin could be forced to resign if he fails to take Ukraine.

Ukraine’s defence intelligence chief, General Kyrylo Budanov, said Moscow had been unable to “swallow” the country.

He warned that President Putin wants to split Ukraine into two, replicating the post-war division between North and South Korea.

source: express.co.uk